


Yunho Tries To Become Sidewalk Art

by laurelea_f



Series: ateez are spies [2]
Category: ATEEZ (Band)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Spies & Secret Agents, M/M, Minor Violence, san needs to get paid more, yunho makes a dumb decision, yunsan besties
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-07-18
Updated: 2020-07-18
Packaged: 2021-03-04 23:20:28
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,750
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25354642
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/laurelea_f/pseuds/laurelea_f
Summary: “This is a bad idea.”“There are no bad ideas, only good ideas that go horribly wrong,” Yunho asserted from the other side of San's earpiece.Well, this was in no way, shape, or form a good idea, and it was most certainly going to go horribly wrong, but San didn’t bother to argue with Yunho.
Relationships: Choi San & Jeong Yunho
Series: ateez are spies [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1833202
Kudos: 20





	Yunho Tries To Become Sidewalk Art

**Author's Note:**

> part two of the agent au! yunsan have such a cute friendship so i hope you enjoy their little installment!!

San did not get paid enough for this. 

He had endured Yunho’s boisterous laughter and jokes all throughout the drive and the trip up the building neighboring their target’s, and when they were crossing from one roof to the other via zip line. Don’t get him wrong, Yunho was one of his closest friends, but the Animal Crossing song was not something San wanted to hear sung through his earpiece when he was crawling through an air vent. 

There was little room in the duct and San was on his stomach, using his elbows to move forward. The metal was cool against his arms, and he was grateful that at least the cooling system worked properly in the building. San had once been in the air ducts of a factory that transported literal scorching exhaust fumes. He’d rather not get poisoned by chemicals or get cooked in a metal tube again. 

“Take a left at the junction up front,” Yeosang said through the comms. 

“Thanks. D’you think you could tell Yunho to shut up?” San added sweetly.

“With pleasure.” 

“I can hear you, you know,” Yunho replied with a chuckle. 

“Then shut up,” Yeosang singsonged brightly. 

“I’m on the roof of a skyscraper! No one’s gonna be up he-“ Yunho cut off and muttered something unintelligible. San heard his muffled movements, followed by the whirring of a helicopter a moment later. He had seen the empty helicopter pad when they’d arrived at the building; someone must’ve just landed. 

San smiled to himself, then said into his comm, “you were saying?” 

Making the turn Yeosang directed him to, San saw the vent that led to the room holding the building’s mainframe computer. He carefully removed the grate and set it aside, then peered into the dark room filled with the tiny blinking blue and green lights of the computers. He pushed himself forward across the opening so that he could go down legs first, then quietly dropped to the ground, landing with cat feet. 

He slipped through the darkness and paused behind one of the many large machines, stilling with his ears strained to make sure he was alone. After he was satisfied with the silence of the room, save for the quiet whirring and occasional beeps from the rows of computers, he pulled out a little tablet from his utility belt. Making sure his gloves were on properly so he wouldn’t leave behind fingerprints, he plugged it into the system. 

After a few seconds, Yeosang’s voice sounded in San’s earpiece. “I’m in. Yunho, you’re a go.” 

The Moon Enterprises building had an impeccable security system that was virtually impossible to hack. Instead of having multiple techs toil over endless screens of code, Hongjoong explained in the briefing that they would have San infiltrate the building first and manually install a backdoor, giving Yeosang access. Yeosang now had free rein over the security cameras and electronic door locks, allowing Yunho, who didn’t have San’s particular skill of staying silent and undetected, to move through the building to his target. 

San tapped commands into his tablet and pulled up the extensive computer program Yeosang, resident genius hacker despite only being a rookie agent, had written for this mission. This had been necessary because Moon Enterprises not only had a very secure system guarding their building, but also one protecting their data. All the company’s statistics and files were stored in their mainframe, which was hard enough to physically get to, but was also impossible to directly download from. Yeosang had created some sort of deceptive Trojan horse that tricked the system into giving away its files. San honestly didn’t understand it. But even with Yeosang’s program, those files were inaccessible unless they had a special passkey that the big boss, Moon himself, kept. That was what Yunho was after tonight. 

Even though the code had been literally written out for him, San was still having some trouble running it, and he already considered his knowledge of hacking pretty proficient. It hurt his pride, just a little bit. San was often given field assignments that required a little more knowledge in IT, having been trained in the basics of hacking. Yeosang’s work made him wonder if this was how other people felt when they saw regular code and programs. 

“Alright.” He heard Yunho’s whisper in his ear. “I’m at Moon’ office.” 

That was pretty quick. San had expected Yunho to have to take down a few guards or any passing office workers on the way, but he supposed that was what happened when you had the best security system ever designed: it made you lazy. 

“It’s just Moon and his bodyguard inside, you’re good to go,” Yeosang said. 

The bang of a door sounded over the comm, followed by a lively “hello, boys” from Yunho. A gunshot echoed in San’s ear. 

The passkey needed to unlock the files in the mainframe were always kept on a chain around Moon’ neck, and he was always guarded by a burly bodyguard. Apparently, Moon himself could hold his own in a fight too, so that was double the trouble. Yunho had been put on this mission because he was one of the most skilled agents in close combat, and could easily take on two men. 

San refocused his attention back to his tablet, still keeping an ear on what was happening through the comms. Gunshots continuously rang out, accompanied by the occasional thud and smack, as well as the ever-present sound of Yunho laughing at his own jokes. Honestly, it was probably really messed up that Yunho could be so cheerful while beating up two men – San wasn’t even sure if both of them were still alive at this point – but he had long since given up trying to reason out the morals of his job. 

“Please, please,” San vaguely made out the cries of a man, most likely Moon. “I can give you anything! I can make you rich!”

Yunho chuckled. “I get paid enough already.” 

San certainly didn’t; he made a mental note to request for a raise when he got back to HQ. He definitely deserved it for putting up with Yunho’s antics. 

“Besides,” Yunho added, his voice darkening, “that’s what you get for stealing the blueprints for a nuclear bomb. Really should’ve stuck to your regular business, man.” 

San heard a few more pitiful whimpers before they were silenced with a punch. “Alright, I got the passkey!” 

“Um, guys?” San did not like the hesitant tone in Yeosang’s voice. He silently prayed while he packed up his tablet that Yeosang was simply being very tentative about sharing good news. “We’ve got four men heading towards the office, armed.” 

That was not good news. Moon or the bodyguard must’ve sounded some alarm.

“Okay,” Yunho dragged out the last syllable. “I can take four guys.” He sounded way less cheerful now. 

Yeosang forced out a nervous laugh. “Yeah, no, there are five more coming from the other direction.” 

“Okay. Okay, okay.” San had the feeling that Yunho was pacing. “Okay! San, you know how to fly a helicopter right?”

“Yeah…” He had taken a piloting course earlier that year, but it had been a very basic course. He did not like where this was going at all. 

“There’s a helicopter on the roof. I’m at the southwest corner, 38th floor.” 

“You’re insane!” San yelled into the comm, not even bothering to keep his voice down. He was supposed to steal and fly a helicopter. To hell with stealth and silence. 

“Am not! I’m creative.” There was a very worrisome anxious edge to his voice. 

“This is a bad idea.” Even so, San was bolting out of the mainframe room, towards the emergency exit stairs. 

“There are no bad ideas, only good ideas that go horribly wrong,” Yunho asserted from the other side of his earpiece. 

Well, this was in no way, shape, or form a good idea, and it was most certainly going to go horribly wrong, but San didn’t bother to argue with Yunho. 

One of the security guards working that floor had spotted him and was running towards him, his mouth opening to probably call for reinforcements. Before he had the chance to, San drew his knife from its sheath at his thigh and slid on his knees, slashing out at the guard’s legs. The man howled in pain and fell to the floor. There was no need for unnecessary casualties, and the man probably wouldn’t even remember this. Even if he did, a nineteen year old boy dressed head to toe in black carrying a knife in a dark service corridor would not be a very believable story. 

San reached the stairwell and took the stairs two at a time, racing up to the roof where the helipad sat. He needed to hurry. 

“Yeosang, I need the door to the roof open.” The electronic lock gave a beep just as San scaled the last flight of stairs. Pushing past the door, he surveyed the thankfully empty roof, whirling towards the sleek black helicopter. 

San slid into the cockpit, frantically surveying the controls. What had the instructor said in the course he took?

“San,” Yunho singsonged nervously. He heard Yunho swear under his breath, then the sound of muffled shouting. The other men had reached the office. “Any time now.” 

“Working on it,” San matched his tone. He was getting a migraine. 

He threw open the throttle and heard the whirring of the rotors above get increasingly louder, then yanked up the collective control. He was missing something. He racked his brain to remember that course. The pedal! His left foot slammed down on the pedal, and he recalled something about counteracting the torque or whatever it was. He hadn’t realized he was holding his breath until he sighed with relief when the helicopter began to gain altitude. But it was still going too slow. He heard a thud followed by a crash from Yunho’s side. Come on, come on. He gripped the cyclic and wrenched it to the side, pulling the helicopter off the roof and down towards the 38th floor. 

“San, you need to hurry,” Yeosang said, distressed. “He’s not gonna last much longer.”

Over the ringing of gunshots, Yunho said, “thanks for the vote of confidence, guys-" He got cut off by the sound of a punch and cried out in pain. 

With the cyclic jammed forward as far as it could go, San steered the helicopter towards what he hoped was the southwest corner. But what he saw when he got there made his heart drop. 

As if in response to the increasing hammering of his heart, time seemed to draw out, seconds stretching until everything was in slow motion. San registered the glass of the window shattering, and through all his panic he remotely thought that the shards looked like tiny diamonds sparkling. Yunho’s body sailed through the cloud of glass and for one terrifying moment that felt like forever, Yunho simply hung in the air, suspended above 38 stories of nothing. Then gravity kicked in and he hurtled towards the ground in free fall. Time caught up to San and he snapped into action, ramming the cyclic forward and grabbing the collective control to meet Yunho’s position as fast as he could. 

Come on, come on. His mind blanked, his attention focused solely on Yunho’s body, rapidly decreasing in altitude. He couldn’t die on him. Hongjoong and Seonghwa would kill San for that. Yunho didn’t deserve to become sidewalk art next to some white-collar criminal’s skyscraper. 

He swerved the helicopter and it tilted it to an angle. Yunho tumbled through the open door, grabbing one of the seats to hold on for dear life. San quickly uprighted the vehicle and leaned back. His head was throbbing, his heart was pounding, and his knuckles had gone white from gripping the controls, but Yunho was safe. He closed his eyes, breathing heavily. Now that the adrenaline that had been fueling him was slowly leaving his system, he was filled with an unpleasant mixture of anger and worry. 

Yeosang broke the silence. “Oh my god.” 

San whirled around to face Yunho. “What the hell were you thinking! If Hongjoong and Seonghwa don’t kill you, I will.” 

“That would defeat the whole purpose,” Yunho had the audacity to say, but at least he looked sheepish. 

San chose to ignore that comment. “You could’ve at least given me a warning.” His voice softened. “You could’ve died.” 

“I’m sorry.” 

He briefly took a hand off the controls to massage his temple. He definitely did not get paid enough for this. He was most certainly going to request a raise now. 

San laughed then, a nervous laugh that turned into a genuine one, and he felt the tension in his body slowly melt away. “I can’t believe you jumped out a window. 38 stories up. You’re crazy!” Yunho burst out laughing too, and between missions and training, San couldn’t remember the last time he could just laugh with his best friend.

“Have fun explaining this to Hongjoong.” 

— 

All things considered, Hongjoong took it pretty well, San decided as the doors leading away from Hongjoong’s office slid open. He and Yunho headed towards the large rest lounge the rookie agents had converted into a home theater and a stockpile for their hoarded snacks. It had been fondly dubbed the Batcave. 

The pair had immediately went to Hongjoong for a debrief after they arrived at headquarters, although San had had to practically drag a very reluctant and slightly terrified Yunho with him. “It was nice knowing you,” he had said sadly. 

Hongjoong had been leaning against the table, arms crossed when they arrived. San and Yunho took their seats and waited. San thought he felt more vulnerable under Hongjoong’s hawk gaze than he did in enemy territory. For a long while, Hongjoong simply watched them with a very perplexing combination of rage, concern, and – was that pride? – in his eyes. San decided not to be too optimistic. Hongjoong opened his mouth once, but seemed to be at a loss for words.

“I want you to know that I think, ultimately, you handled the situation well,” he’d finally said, with a tone that almost resembled a parent scolding their child. “You’re both alive and sitting here. However, I would like to know what the hell made you think jumping out the window of a skyscraper into a helicopter was an acceptable idea.” He didn’t give them time to respond. “I could’ve lost not one but maybe even two of my best agents. I believe I trained you better than this.” 

A lengthy lecture had followed, and San could feel Yunho absolutely wilting into his chair, head hung low. As agents they had dealt with reprimands from senior agents or their supervisors, but this was a whole new level – it had felt like parent disappointment. 

The doors to the Batcave hissed open and several heads turned to face them. 

Jongho whooped while Wooyoung called out, “Ateez’s fastest and our golden retriever strike again!

“Don’t call me that,” Yunho grimaced. 

Wooyoung, wearing an oversized hoodie that matched his lilac hair and made him look way too soft, jumped up from the couch and sprinted towards the newcomers, leaping at them. For a brief moment, he clung to them like a koala on a tree, before they lost their balance and all three of them fell to the floor. Mingi cracked up at his friends. 

“Alright, alright, get over here,” Jongho said, gesturing towards the long table. “It’s story time. Yeosang told us you jumped out of window.”

San took a seat with Wooyoung next to him, an arm rested on the back of San’s chair. Yunho, with San’s help, recounted their adventures of that night to the other rookies’ growing delight, but he at least had the decency to look semi-embarrassed. 

“And that’s why I think he needs to listen to common sense and reasonable discourse,” San concluded. 

“Those should be the names of your fists,” Jongho said, chuckling. 

Wooyoung snorted. “Nah, his feet. He’s more of kicker.”

“You should let me build you wings or something," Mingi piped up. “We’re working on a new design down in the lab and its based off sugar gliders!” 

San gave an exasperated laugh, but he felt the corners of his lips tug up in a fond smile for his friends. “That is not something I want to be around for."

**Author's Note:**

> thank you so much for reading - i hope you enjoyed it! feedback and comments are always appreciated!


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